Guy DeMatties A doctor goes to the state of Maine to investigate problems that a paper mill is having after protests by local Native Americans over the pollution the mill is causing. Upon arriving, he notes that the situation has become violent between the natives and the mill workers. Also some strange happenings and disappearances have occurred which escalates when a family of campers are killed. The doctor finds out that mercury run-off from the mill has caused mutations amongst the animals of the area, and soon he and his group come face to face with the most terrifying of those mutations. As far as the movie goes, it's hard to believe this was directed by John Frankenheimer, as it has the feel of a '70s made-for-TV Movie of the week. Horrible effects when it comes to the monster, bland acting, and mediocre dialogue really hurt this movie from reaching its potential. It DOES have the typical '70s environmental message, which is a good thing, but the movie's quality pretty much assured the message was not seen by a lot of people.

buckikris A good movie about what can happen when dangerous waste enters the water supply. Rob( Robert Foxworth), is a doctor who is asked to go to Maine over a land dispute. A dispute that involves the lumber mill; and the Indians.As soon as he is asked, Rob brings his wife Maggie(Talia Shire). Once there they meet the lumber yard owner Isley( Richard Dysart). Isley is very hardheaded; and hates the locals. He blames everything that has gone wrong on them, such as violence, murder; and disorderly conduct. He chalks it up as the typical Indian. The Indians don't like him because he is destroying their land by taking the lumber; and using it for his paper/lumber mill. The locals just want to preserve the beauty; and not destroy it. John Hawks(Armand Assante) and Ramona(Victoria Racimo) are the head villagers. The two begin to work closely with Rob and Maggie, once trust is gained. Hawks and Ramona tell Rob and Maggie horrible stories about deformities, still births, and deaths that have occurred.What has turned out to be a land dispute turns into an investigation on a rash of illnesses plaguing the village.When Maggie and Rob meet( Muri) Maggie's grandfather; he explains more about the area. He tells them that it is the Garden of Eden, where everything grows big. Maggie says she heard of another legend of Kadardin. After hearing this Rob is suspicious of the mill using chemicals in the water. They take a trip to the lumber mill; and talk to Isley. Once there Isley gives them a tour and shows them the different stages of making paper.Rob asks Isley if they use chemicals in the processes. Isley claims no harmful chemicals are used only chlorine. Isley tell him he can test the water if he wants. After leaving Rob still has doubts, especially after seeing a huge salmon, a tadpole 10x it's size, and a raccoon that suffered from rabies. Then when he notices the silvery dry liquid on Maggie's shoe it begins to make since. Rob now knows what is causing deformities. It is Mercury the people, animals, trees all have some Methyl Mercury poisoning in them.The abnormalities, in the animals, peoples behavior changing and the creature that stalks the woods. It is all a sign of Methyl mercury poisoning. The creature that is responsible for deaths and disappearances is a deformed creature due to the tainted water. Rob, Maggie, John, Ramona and Isley will eventually stop the creature. Along the way some discoveries are sad, and some will perish. The most troubling is that Isley knew what was going on and still used it due in part to it being cheap. Near the end Rob and Maggie do make it out alive, but the movie has a twist. As the plane leaves a new mutation appears; and a new cycle of terror begins.I gave this film a 7/10, because it had a great plot. I remember seeing this along with Friday the 13th back in Dayton, Oh. when I was 8. I was with my folks and it creeped me out. The two movies scared me because I did go camping every year. The ending of Prophecy was a big shocker, because I didn't expect it. If the monster at the end looked like the monster through out the movie this film would be a solid 8. It is somewhat dated, but still creepy. I agree Robert Foxworth does resemble Robert Reed when he sported that perm back in the day, LOL. For any horror/ suspense fan that misses great horror films, look no further than this thriller. It has it all from beginning to end.THX, Kris L. CocKayne

Alien_Zombie This film had the potential to be a rare echo-horror that actually tackled the subject of men tempering with nature. It was apparently inspired by a real environmental disaster in Japan and since it was directed by John Frankenheimmer, I was genuinely intrigued to check out this film that I had been dismissing for so long mainly because of the infamous exploding sleeping bag scene.It starts out nicely with a violent sequence that proceeds to set up the main characters and plot; Native Americans are demonstrating against loggers working on a paper mill and taking away their land. The protagonist is a doctor who is called to the affair as an adviser and soon finds out that the plant is poisoning the water, the fish and the people who live of the land. To make matters worse there's something in the woods feeding on loggers and campers.Now, I know this is a creature feature and the monster deserves a fair amount of screen time. It is kept in wraps throughout the film, making up for some genuinely suspenseful scenes. At first it's a mere side effect of the much bigger tragedy that the land and people are suffering. But by the end it takes over the movie, turning it into a gore fest and depriving it of its original atmosphere. All the subplots are dropped, characters vanished and the movie abruptly ends.All in all, as far as echo-horror goes this is one of the most decent and fans of b movies will certainly be entertained. More stuff to look out for is the gorgeous Victoria Racimo, a young Armand Assante, those adorable mutated bear cubs and of course, the exploding sleeping bag scene.

Theo Robertson John Frankenheimer was once a highly regarded film director in the 1960s and 70s with themes such politics , identity and existentialism being running themes . If there was one film that sank his career then it would be PROPHECY , a horror film I vivedly remember as being heavily trailed on television at the time and a film that made me wish I was old enough to watch X certificates at the cinema . Over the years PROPHECY gained a reputation as being one of the worst films to be made by an A list director but I tend not to listen to critics too much and decided to make up my own mind . When I finally it I decided there's maybe a good reason why critics get paid to watch movies . When you see a film like PROPHECY you start thinking that no matter how much the critics get paid then it's not nearly enough At first glance someone like Frankenheimer seems an odd choice to direct a mere horror movie but within the first ten minutes you realise this isn't a horror movie - it's a manifesto for the bleeding heart dogooder party . Within the space of three scenes we've had a lumberjack massacre , freedom of right for abortion and rich people are racist money grabbers crammed in to a film . It's not subtext , it's sententious screaming that's supposed to make you run in to the street and apologise to anyone who has a different skin colour or has less money than you have . Considering the two protagonists spewing the guilt trip party manifesto are a medical doctor and his cello playing wife one might accuse the film of hypocrisy . Maybe the film's original was in fact Hypocrisy and not PROPHECY ? The ineptness of the film making continues as does the double standards. Now that we've established that rich people are ba dwe have a scene where a dog is harnessed to a helicopter . " What's happening there ? " asks Dr Dogooder who is informed a bunch of lumberjacks have disappeared and the dog is the only survivor . Is it explained why it's dangling from the copter ? No but I suppose it's supposed to illustrate that people don't treat animals as well as they should , which foershadows the rest of the film meaning PETA won't firebomb any cinemas it's getting shown in . Then we get to meet the noble Native American who are of course played by Americans of Italian descent who get set upon by nasty white lumberjacks If by any chance you've either switched off by this point or more likely fallen in to a coma we find out that the logging process has caused a bear to turn in to what Leonard Maltin has described as " A giant salami" . So at this point you might want to become a vegetarian . Or at the very least not bother watching any films with an ecological subtext That said PROPHECY contains one of the greatest scenes in the history of cinema . This happens when an all American family are camping in the woods , or more accurately a film studio resembling woodland when they're attacked by the giant salami . Unable to escape from his sleeping bag - how difficult is it to unzip a sleeping bag I wonder ? - a young teenage boy hops anbout the studio when he's slapped by the salami , flys across the studio floor where he hits a polystyrene rock and explodes in to a cloud of feathers . If nothing else this gets the film a couple of more points than it genuinely deserves